Individual Entry

DVD Review: Trial & Retribution: The Fourth Collection

With this fourth collection, essentially all the Trial & Retributions that are worth owning have been released on DVD. The subsequent 2008 series really wasn’t much cop at all, and, going by what has aired so far of the 2009 series, things are unlikely to get any better. Perhaps the time has come to put Trial & Retribution to rest: as it stands, it has now completed its de-evolution into another run-of-the-mill police thriller and is therefore serving no particular purpose in a schedule already jam-packed with run-of-the-mill police thrillers. What started out as a unique and inventive take on the investigative and judiciary processes is now left with precious little sense of its own identity, and while the three episodes included in this set are all of a decent standard, all but one of them are a far cry from what was being produced in the series’ heyday. At least the relatively agreeable price tag - less than £15 at our cheapest affiliate - helps cushion the blow somewhat, with Curriculum Vitae coming close to justifying the cost alone.

With the latest series of Trial & Retribution currently airing on ITV1, I examine the fourth volume of the series on DVD, which contains the final three episodes from the 2007 season. Review at DVD Times.